Daily Meditation: Thursday, September 30, 2004

Four elements - supports for our spiritual life

09/30/2004

What is more ordinary than washing one's hands? Actually, nothing is ordinary, nothing is insignificant, as long as you do it consciously. The water you come in contact with is the material expression of an invisible water which circulates throughout the universe and, through your contact with water, you can communicate with this cosmic water and ask it to purify you. You can also entrust it with your thoughts, your feelings and your highest desires both for yourself and for the whole world. Some of you will protest: ‘But that is awful, you are asking us to behave like pagans!' No, this is no more pagan than praying before a statue or a holy picture. When you address water, it is not because you consider it an all-powerful divinity who will grant your prayers, but because it is a support for your inner work, and a support which is much more effective because it is alive – alive with the life of God Himself. The same thing holds true for earth, air and fire.